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Thors Helmet

Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in the heavens. Popularly called Thor’s Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages.Heroically sized even for …

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Find the Moon

Where’s the Moon?Somewhere in this image, the Earth’s Moon is hiding. The entire Moon is visible, in its completely full phase, in plain sight.Even the photographer’s keen eye …

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Saturn and Six Moons

How many moons does Saturn have?So far 82 have been confirmed, the smallest being only a fractionof a kilometer across.Six of its largest satellites can be seen here in a composite image with 13 short …

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The Face on Mars

Wouldn’t it be fun if clouds were castles? Wouldn’t it be fun if the laundry on the bedroom chair was a superhero? Wouldn’t it be fun if rock mesas on Mars were interplanetary …

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Along the Milky Way

You can’twalk along the Milky Way.Still, under a dark skyyou can explore it.To the eye the pale luminous trail of light arcingthrough the sky on a dark, moonless night does appear to bea path …

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Pixels in the Sun

These two panels, composed of video frames madewith a safe solar telescope andhydrogen alpha filter,show remarkably sharp details onthe solar diskand giant prominences along the Sun’s edge on …

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Messier 99

Grand designspiral galaxy Messier 99looks majestic on a truly cosmic scale.This recently processedfull galaxy portraitstretches over 70,000 light-years across M99.The sharp view is a combination of …

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Northern Summer Twilight

Nights grow shorter anddays grow longer as the summer solsticeapproaches in the north.Usually seen at high latitudes in summer months,noctilucent or night shining cloudsbegin to make their appearance. …

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Scorpius Enhanced

If Scorpius looked this good to the unaided eye, humans might remember it better. Scorpius more typically appears as a few bright stars in a well-known but rarely pointed out zodiacal constellation.To …

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Ganymede from Juno

What does the largest moon in the Solar System look like? Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, larger than even Mercury and Pluto, has an icy surface speckled with bright young craters overlying a mixture …

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Eclipse on the Water

Eclipses tend to come in pairs.Twice a year, during an eclipse season that lastsabout 34 days,Sun, Moon, and Earth can nearly align.Then the full and newphases of the Moonseparated by just over 14 …

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Eclipse Flyby

On June 10 a New Moonpassed in front of the Sun.In silhouette only two days afterreaching apogee,the most distant point in its elliptical orbit,the Moon’s small apparent size helped create an …

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Circular Sun Halo

Want to see a ring around the Sun?It’s easy to doin daytime skies around the world.Created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin high cirrus clouds,circular 22 degree halos are visible much …

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Blood Monster Moon

On May 26, theFull Flower Moonwas caught in this single exposure as itemerged from Earth’s shadowand morning twilight began to wash overthe western sky.Posing close to the horizon near the end …

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Starlink over Orion

What are those streaks across Orion?Most are reflections of sunlight from numerous Earth-orbiting Starlink satellites.Appearing by eye as a series of successive points floating across a twilight sky, …

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Aurora over Clouds

Auroras usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral glow is created when fast-moving particles ejected from the Sun impact the Earth’s magnetosphere, from which charged particles spiral …

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The Galaxy Tree

First came the trees.In the town of Salamanca, Spain, the photographer noticed how distinctive a grove of oak trees looked after being pruned. Next came the galaxy.The photographer stayed up until 2 …

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Markarian s Chain

Near the heart of theVirgo Galaxy Clusterthe string of galaxies known as Markarian’sChain stretches across this deeptelescopic field of view.Anchored in the frame at bottom center by prominent …

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Utopia on Mars

Expansive Utopia Planitiaon Mars is strewn with rocks and boulders in this 1976 image.Constructed fromtheViking 2 lander’scolor and black and white image data,the scene approximates the …

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The Jellyfish and Mars

Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught inthis alluring scene.In the telescopic field of view two bright yellowish stars,Mu andEtaGeminorum, stand just below and above the Jellyfish …

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NGC 602 and Beyond

The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like pearls, but look beyond.Near the outskirts of theSmall Magellanic Cloud,a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant,lies 5 million …

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Deepscape at Yacoraite

In this evocative night scene a dusty central Milky Wayrises over theancient Andeanarchaeological site of Yacoraite innorthwestern Argentina.The denizens of planet Earthreaching skywardare the large …

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Windblown NGC 3199

NGC 3199 lies about 12,000 light-years away,a glowing cosmic cloud in the nautical southern constellationof Carina.The nebula is about 75 light-years across in thisnarrowband, false-color view. Though …

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STEVE over Copper Harbor

What creates STEVEs?Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs) have likely been seen since antiquity, but only in the past five years has it been realized that their colors and shapes make …

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A Sagittarius Triplet

These three bright nebulae are often featured on telescopic tours of theconstellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields ofthe central Milky Way.In fact, 18th century cosmic touristCharles …

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Planet Earth at Twilight

No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into night inthis gorgeous viewof ocean and clouds overour fair planet Earth.Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and showsthe gradual …

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Zodiacal Night

An intense band of zodiacal lightis captured in this serene mountain and night skyscape from April 7.The panoramic view was recorded after three hours of hikingfrom a vantage looking west after sunset …

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Messier 106

Close to the Great Bear(Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of theHunting Dogs(Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder wasdiscoveredin 1781 by themetricFrench astronomerPierre Mechain.Later, it was …

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3D Ingenuity

The multicolor, stereo imagingMastcam-Zon the Perseverance roverzoomed in to capturedthis 3D close-up (get out your red/blue glasses) of theMars Ingenuity helicopteron mission sol 45, April …

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Threads of NGC 1947

Found in far southern skies, deep within the boundaries of theconstellation Dorado,NGC 1947 is some 40 million light-years away.In silhouette against starlight, obscuring lanes of cosmic dustthread …

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Ingenuity on Sol 39

The Mars Ingenuity Helicopter,all four landing legs down,was captured here on sol 39 (March 30) slung beneath the belly ofthe Perseverance rover.The near ground level view is a mosaic of imagesfrom …

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Exploring the Antennae

Some 60 million light-years away in the southerlyconstellationCorvus, two large galaxies are colliding.Stars in the two galaxies, cataloged asNGC 4038 and NGC 4039,very rarely collide in the course of …

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The Medusa Nebula

Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gassuggest this nebula’s popular name, The Medusa Nebula.Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an oldplanetary nebulasome 1,500 light-years away in …

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Curiosity: Sol 3048

BeforePerseverance there was Curiosity.In fact, the Curiosity rover accomplished the first sky crane maneuvertouchdown on Mars on April 5, 2012.March 2, 2021 marked Curiosity’s 3,048th martian …

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From Auriga to Orion

What’s up in the sky from Auriga to Orion?Many of the famous stars and nebulas in this region were captured on 34 separate images, taking over 430 hours of exposure, and digitally combined to …

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The Leo Trio

This popular group leaps into the early evening sky around the Marchequinox andthenorthern hemisphere spring.Famous as theLeo Triplet,the three magnificent galaxies found in the prominentconstellation …

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Messier 81

One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth’s sky is similar in sizeto our Milky Way Galaxy: big,beautifulMessier 81.Also known as NGC 3031 or Bode’s galaxy for its 18th century …

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Zodiacal Light and Mars

Just after sunset on March 7, a faint band of light stillreaches above the western horizon in this serene,rural Illinois, night skyscape.Taken from an old farmstead, the luminous glow is zodiacal …

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A Little Like Mars

The surfaceof this planet looks a littlelike Mars.It’s really planet Earththough.In a digitally stitched little planet projection, the360 degree mosaic was captured near San Pedro in the …

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Mars in Taurus

You can spot Marsin the evening sky tonight.Now home to thePerseverance rover,the Red Planetis presently wandering through the constellation Taurus, close on the sky tothe Seven Sisters or Pleiades …

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What is a quasar?

A quasar is an extremely bright and distant point-like source visible to radio telescopes. The source is a so-called Active Galactic Nucleus, fueled by a supermassive black hole. Διαβάστε περισσότερα: …

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The Aurora Tree

Yes, but can your tree do this? Pictured is a visual coincidence between the dark branches of a nearby tree and bright glow of a distant aurora.The beauty of the aurora – combined with how it …

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A Venus Flyby

On a missionto explore the inner heliosphere and solar corona,on July 11, 2020the Wide-field Imager on board NASA’sParker Solar Probecapturedthis stunning viewof the nightside of Venus at …

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Mars Perseverance Sol 0

After a 203 day interplanetary voyage, andseven minutes of terror,Perseverance has landed on Mars. Confirmation of the successful landing at Jezero craterwas announced from missioncontrol at NASA’s …

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Swiss Alps, Martian Sky

Taken on February 6,this snowy mountain and skyscape was capturednear Melchsee-Frutt, central Switzerland, planet Earth.The reddish daylight and blue tinted glow around the afternoon Sun arecolors of …

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Long Stem Rosette Nebula

Would theRosette Nebula by any othername look as sweet?The bland New General Catalogdesignation of NGC 2237 doesn’t appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula, at the top …

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Stereo Eros

Get out yourred/blue glassesand float next toasteroid 433 Eros.Orbiting the Sun once every 1.8 years, the near-Earth asteroidis named for the Greek god of love.Still, its shape more closely resembles …

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Spiral Galaxy NGC 1350

This gorgeous island universe lies about 85 million light-yearsdistant in the southernconstellationFornax.Inhabited by young blue star clusters, thetightly woundspiral arms of NGC 1350seem to join in …

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Cygnus Mosaic 2010 2020

In brush strokesof interstellar dust and glowing gas,this beautiful skyscape is painted across the plane of ourMilky Way Galaxynear the northern end of the Great Rift andthe constellation Cygnus the …

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Apollo 14 Heads for Home

Fifty years agothis Sunday (February 7, 1971), the crewof Apollo 14left lunar orbit andheaded for home.They watchedthisEarthrise from their command module Kittyhawk.With Earth’s sunlit crescent …

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Messier 66 Close Up

Big, beautifulspiral galaxy Messier 66lies a mere35 million light-years away.The gorgeous island universe isabout 100 thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way.This …

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Recycling Cassiopeia A

Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnacesignite and create heavy elements in their cores.After a few million years, …

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The Milky Ring

An expanse of cosmic dust, stars and nebulae alongthe plane of our Milky Way galaxy form a beautiful ring inthis projected all-sky view.The creative panorama covers the entiregalaxy visiblefrom planet …

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M78 Wide Field

Interstellardust clouds andglowing nebulaeabound in the fertileconstellation of Orion.One of thebrightest, M78,is centered in this colorful,wide field view,covering an area north ofOrion’s …

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A Plutonian Landscape

This shadowy landscapeof majestic mountains and icy plainsstretches toward the horizon on a small, distant world.It was captured from a range of about 18,000 kilometers whenNew Horizonslooked back …

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The sun in 2020

See a whole year of sun images, an image a day for 2020, taken by ESA’s Proba-2 satellite. Διαβάστε περισσότερα: https://earthsky.org/space/sun-in-2020-movie-images

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What is a star?

It’s easy enough to say what a star is: one of those bright pointy things that twinkle in the night sky. But the actual definition of a star is as rich and colorful as the stars themselves. …

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Trail of the Returner

Familiar starsof a northern winter’s night shine in this nightskyview, taken near Zhangye, Gansu, China and theborder with Inner Mongolia.During the early hours of December 17 Orion is near …

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Northern Winter Night

Orion always seems to come up sideways onnorthern winter evenings.Those familiar stars of the constellation of the Hunterare caught above the trees in this colorful night skyscape.Not a star at all …

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Portrait of NGC 1055

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member ofa small galaxy groupa mere 60 million light-years away towardthe aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus.Seen edge-on, the island …

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Diamond in the Sky

When the shadow of the Moon raced across planet Earth’ssouthern hemisphere on December 14,sky watchers along the shadow’s darkcentral pathwere treated to the only total solar eclipse of …

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Gemini s Meteors

Taken over the course of an hour shortly after local midnight on December 13,35 exposures were used to create this postcard from Earth.The composited night scene spans dark skies above the snowy …

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Curly Spiral Galaxy M63

A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky,Messier 63is nearby,about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal constellationCanes Venatici.Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majesticisland …

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Eye of Moon

Who’s watching who? The featured image of the Moon through a gap in a wall of rock may appear like a giant eye looking back at you. Although, in late October, it took only a single exposure to …

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Cygnus Without Stars

The sky is filled with faintly glowing gas, though it can take asensitive camera and telescope to see it.For example, this twelve-degree-wide view of thenorthern part of the constellationCygnusreveals …

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The Great Turkey Nebula

Surprisingly reminiscent of The Great Nebula in Orion,The Great Turkey Nebula spans this creative field of view. Of courseif it were the Orion Nebula it would be our closestlarge stellar nursery, …

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